Samuel H. Levinson, 77, Inventor Of Rail Car Scale

Samuel H. Levinson, 77, an inventor and executive, developed an electronic device called Railweight to weigh coupled freight cars in motion.

A resident of the Near North Side and formerly of Glencoe, he died Sunday while on a trip to Cincinnati.

A 1976 Tribune article elaborated on his long and harried effort to get his electronic scales accepted by the many goverment agencies involved in interstate commerce and weights and measures.

Before the invention of Railweight, each car had to be uncoupled to be weighed so the customer could know he was getting what he paid for. It took five men five hours to uncouple and weigh a train of 100 cars. With Mr. Levinson's scale, he said, he could do it by himself in 15 minutes.

At the time of the article, he had been fighting for 21 years to get the device accepted by the Interstate Commerce Commission, the National Bureau of Standards Handbook and potential customers.

"I am a tilter of windmills but this thing is crazy," he said.

His firm expanded into 13 countries on five continents.

He also consulted for U.S. companies to help them transfer technology to India.

During World War II, he was in charge of a rail depot in Gaya, India.

Survivors include his wife, Florence; a daughter, Gail; a son, Michael; a stepdaughter, Natasha Staller; two stepsons, Richard Staller and David Staller; a sister; and two grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday in Weinstein Brothers Memorial Chapel, 111 Skokie Blvd., Wilmette.